Into Heat
by Lieutenant Thalia
Summary: In which Ruby and Belle demonstrate a little too much PDA, and they're not even in a relationship. Terrible summary. I would give a title, but it'd give too much away. Red Beauty. I don't own OUAT.
1. Chapter 1

"Belle! Granny! I'm taking my break!" Ruby called excitedly as the librarian entered the diner. "Come on! I made you some breakfast!" She said, hugging the librarian so suddenly and with so much vigour that Belle fell backwards and would have cracked her head on the floor had Ruby not quickly switched their positions.

"Hi, Ruby." Belle chuckled from her position on top of the green eyed girl. She stood up, missing Ruby's slight pout as she did. Then she noticed everyone in the diner looking their way, but they put their heads down when she looked at them. She could both hear and see Ruby's grandmother laughing in the background. She extended a hand to Ruby, helping her up, only to be pulled back into a hug.

"Sorry." The red clad girl whispered.

"Did you just sniff my hair?" Belle asked.

"...No..." Ruby whispered, looking down. "Now, come on. Breakfast." She snuggled close to the other girl and led her over to her booth where a plate was waiting. "Blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon, maple syrup, and a strawberry and banana smoothie. Ta da!"

Belle raised an eyebrow at her words and Ruby shrugged while visibly cringing. Belle slid into the booth, expecting Ruby to release her arm and slide in the other side, as they usually did, but instead Ruby sat on the seat next to her, never letting go of her arm. "Um, Ruby? I kind of need my arm."

"Okay." Ruby smiled, releasing her arm.

"Thanks." Belle said, grabbing onto her cutlery, only for Ruby to scooch slightly closer, if possible, and put her head on Belle's shoulder, her arms going around Belle's waist. Then she seemingly randomly began to nuzzle Belle's neck, making the girl moan slightly, and then blush. She gave her friend a tentative smile and started to eat as quickly as possible under the circumstances. When she was finished, Granny Lucas called her granddaughter over and Belle made her escape, half walking, half running to the library. Once there she unlocked the doors and changed the sign to open. Then she sat down in her chair and closed her eyes.

The way Ruby was acting had freaked her out slightly. It was like she had a need to be as close to Belle as she could whenever possible. Belle was uncomfortable from PDA when in a relationship, and even more so when it wasn't her partner, but her best friend, that was doing these things to her. And getting that response. She laughed. Not only was it her best friend that did those things, but it was her best friend she was running from. Her thoughts went on like this for several minutes, each train of thought forming a different explanation. It all boiled down to one question: _What the hell is up with Ruby?_

She replayed the whole... encounter in her head. The tackle she received upon arrival. Ruby taking her break then just so she could sit with her. Ruby sitting right next to her._ And Granny was laughing the whole time_, she remembered.

"I have to talk to Granny."


	2. Chapter 2

"Granny. Is Ruby here?" Belle asked as soon as she entered the diner.

"No. She's taking the garbage out. Shall I go get her?" Granny asked.

"No! Er... there's no need for that. Especially seeing as I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, what can I do for you, dear?" Granny asked.

"I think you know. What was that earlier?" Belle frowned.

"Ruby was just being friendly." Granny dismissed, smiling.

"And then some. You wouldn't have been laughing like you were if that was it."

"Granny? Anything else you need?" Ruby called from outside.

"You know what? I can't talk about this now. Why don't you go and ask Snow?" Granny suggested, her smile growing into small chuckles.

The librarian groaned. She walked quickly over to Snow's apartment. She knocked on the door. It opened.

"Snow? I need to ask you something." She began.

"What about?" The woman cautioned.

"Ruby." She half smiled.

"And?" Snow prompted.

"Personal boundaries." Belle muttered. Snow giggled. "Can you stop laughing?" Belle exclaimed.

"Sorry, sorry. You know what? I'm not really comfortable talking about this. Why don't you ask Emma?" Snow laughed, pushing her out of the door.

Belle sighed, beginning to think that she would never get her explanation. She trod over to the Sherriff's station and looked through the glass windows of the office to see Emma reclining in her chair. The door was open, so she knocked on the doorframe.

"Emma? I need to ask you something."

"Yeah..." Emma leaned forward in her seat, intrigued by Belle's tone of voice.

"Ruby. She was cosying up to me in the diner. You wouldn't know anything bout that, would you?" Belle asked, tilting her head instinctively. Emma's face burned. "Why are you blushing?"

"Why aren't you asking Ruby?" Emma shot back.

Belle racked her brains trying to think of an explanation. She came up blank. "You win." She left the station, still talking to herself. "I have to go talk to Ruby."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N~ Sorry it took so long. And that it's not my best work. I wrote something, then I forgot to save it, and I had to rewrite what I remembered, and here we are.**

**Comment if you can figure out which comedian I referenced in this chapter. Hint- British female.**

"I can't go talk to Ruby." She sighed, sitting back down, head in hands. The bell over the door went off.

"You got a problem, sister?" Grumpy asked.

"Yup." She smiled.

"Wanna tell me?"

"Nope." She said in the exact same tone.

"Well, one good thing about this world. You know how if you're proud about something you ask your parents?" He started.

"Yeah..." Belle frowned, not thrilled at the mention of her dad.

"Well, if you're not proud, in this world you can ask the internet." He told her.

"Oh, I never thought of that. Thanks." She grinned.

"No problem, sister." He said, walking off.

She logged on to the library computer and got up the internet. "Okay... girl... friend... PDA." Nothing. "Girl... friend... hugging." Zilch. "Girl... Random...Touchy feely...Not what I was expecting." Then she realised something. "Wolf... Nuzzle... Hug... Public..." The screen loaded. Belle's eyes widened. Her cheeks reddened.

"Oh. My. God."


	4. Chapter 4

"You like me." Belle declared as she walked into the diner. Ruby's eyes widened.

She stepped forward, laying a hand on Belle's arm. "Me or granny, cos if it's the second, we can't be friends." She smiled. Belle glared. "Come on, let's go talk outside." Ruby put an arm around Belle, pulling her close and leading her out.

Belle sat down at one of the tables outside. Ruby pulled the chair that was opposite so she could sit so close she was practically on Belle's lap. "How did you know?" She asked.

"Google."

"What?"

"At the advice of Dreamy I went online and typed in a few different searches with various useless results. I remembered your wolf side and tried wolf, nuzzle, hug and public."

"And did you find anything?"

"Yes, actually. Did you know that when a wolf reaches full maturity it feels a need to claim a mate? And when it does it is also known to mark it's territory." Belle blushed, looking down.

"Er... Yeah. I knew that." The girl said, shuffling closer still.

Belle met her gaze. "But I'm guessing it's slightly different with werewolves. Am I right?"

"Yeah. We don't reach maturity until we're 28. Almost twice as slow as humans. And then it's not a matter of just any mate. We fall in love first. Claim second."

Belle blinked, surprised. "You're... in love with me?"

"Yeah. Guess my wolf's a hopeless romantic." Ruby shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Falling for a straight girl. Who's also my best friend." The part wolf sighed.

"Who said I was straight?" Belle frowned. "I've never told. You've never asked."

"You mean... you're not?"

Belle tilted her head thoughtfully. "I don't like labels, but I suppose you'd call me... bisexual."

"You sure?"

"If I wasn't would I be falling for you, too?"

"You... you're what!?" Ruby exclaimed in joy.

"You heard me."

Ruby wasn't sure how to react, but apparently her body was. Without thinking she leaned forward, kissing Belle. And Belle kissed back. It was all the clichés. The sparks, the fireworks, the ridiculous heart skipping that Ruby only felt when she was running. But it was so much better, because she knew that she didn't have to run anymore. Because everything she wanted was right in front of her. They pulled away to breathe.

"Wanna go out sometime?" Ruby panted.

Belle smiled. "I would love to."


End file.
